1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method for processing information, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many conventional information retrieval systems retrieve content which coincides with a user-input keyword. With conventional systems, although a retrieval result can be quickly obtained as long as the user inputs a correct keyword, the user needs to consider a new keyword for each retrieval. Further, there has been a problem that it is difficult for general non-expert users to input a correct keyword.
To solve this problem, a method of label-based retrieval is discussed. With this method, metadata supplied to contents is presented to the user as options and retrieval refinement is performed based on the option selected by the user.
With a technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-208838, suitability of an attribute value included in retrieved contents as a label is obtained, and the attribute values are presented to a user in order of suitability, i.e., starting from an attribute value having the highest suitability. When the user selects a label, retrieval is performed in the contents including the label.
However, since the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-208838 utilizes fixed options prepared in advance and one piece of content extraction information for each attribute, there has been a case where an option which has almost no refinement effect for a certain attribute is presented to the user. Therefore, in selective retrieval, there has been room for improvement in usability of options until the user acquires a desired retrieval result.